Eye of a Storm

Arabella swallowed hard, her teeth sinking into her lower lip as she stared into his piercing gray eyes. They were cold and deadly, yet something about them was dangerously alluring.

‘He looks like he’s going to swallow me alive.’

The way he stood, towering over her with a predatory intensity, made her feel trapped, like prey caught in a hunter’s snare.

His damp hair clung slightly to his forehead, droplets of water trailing down his chiseled chest. She quickly averted her gaze, realizing with a jolt that he was barely dressed. His lower half was wrapped in nothing but a towel. Her face burned as she forced herself to look anywhere but at him.

“You’re bold, aren’t you?” His voice was deep and edged with frustration. “Do you think you can just run away after the mess you caused? Do you even know who you’ve been messing with?”

Arabella barely processed his words as a memory from earlier that night resurfaced:

‘I refuse to marry you, Sebastian Bancroft!’

Her breath hitched, and she found herself staring at him in alarm. “Sebastian Bancroft?” she whispered, horror creeping into her voice.

The moment his name left her lips, his expression shifted into something even more wicked, a slow, satisfied smirk spreading across his face.

So this was him. The elusive and feared Sebastian Bancroft. She had heard of him, his reputation enough to make powerful people tread carefully. He was a man who operated in the shadows, someone no one wanted to cross.

And she just had.

‘I’m in deep trouble.’

“I… I need to go now,” she stammered, instinct taking over as she took a hesitant step back. I have to run before it’s too late.

But Sebastian moved fast. With just a few strides, he was already in front of her, cutting off her escape. Arabella pressed herself against the cold door behind her, heart pounding.

His sharp gaze pinned her in place. 

“Stubborn, aren’t you?” he muttered, his voice dangerously low. “I told you not to move, and now you’re trying to leave?” His eyes darkened. “Tell me what happened last night. How the hell did you end up in my bed?”

She held her breath as he leaned closer, his warm breath brushing against her face.

“How is it that we were both naked, yet I remember nothing?” His voice was razor-sharp, laced with suspicion. “Did you drug me?”

Arabella’s stomach twisted into knots. She couldn’t tell him the truth yet, it would put her father’s life at risk.

When she didn’t respond, his patience snapped. “Well?”

“I… I don’t know,” she murmured, her voice barely above a whisper. She refused to meet his gaze. “I was drunk last night…” she trailed off, as if piecing together fragments of a blurry memory. “I had a room booked, but I must have… walked into the wrong one.”

Sebastian let out a sharp, humorless laugh. Then, without warning, he slammed his hand against the wall beside her. Arabella flinched, her breath hitching.

“A mistake?” His tone was biting. “Do you take me for a fool? You’re not leaving until you give me a proper explanation.”

“I already told you. I don’t know,” she snapped, meeting his glare with defiance. “Even if you try to squeeze the truth out of me right now, you won’t get anything. So will you just let me go?”

She took a deep breath, forcing herself to stay calm. “How about this? I’ll talk to your girlfriend later and explain that this was just a misunderstanding. But right now, I have somewhere important to be.”

Sebastian’s jaw clenched, his frustration evident. He ran a hand through his wet hair before gripping her chin firmly, forcing her to look up at him.

“Aren’t you an interesting one?” he mused, his tone an unsettling mix of irritation and amusement. 

His fingers tightened slightly. “How about we try something? Since neither of us remember what happened, why don’t we recall it together?”

Before she could react, his lips crashed onto hers.

The kiss was fierce, demanding. She felt the heat of his body pressing against hers, his tongue sliding into her mouth with dominance. For a moment, the world blurred, and she found herself drowning in the intensity of it.

But just as quickly as she had lost herself in the moment, Arabella snapped back to reality.

With all her strength, she kneed him hard in the groin.

“Fuck!” Sebastian cursed, doubling over in pain.

She shoved him away and lunged for the door, yanking it open. Without looking back, she bolted down the hallway, her heart hammering in her chest.

Outside, she practically threw herself into the first cab she could find. “Go! Now!”

The driver glanced at her through the rearview mirror. “Where to, Ma’am?”

“Meta Doctors Hospital! Please, hurry!” she urged, casting nervous glances behind her.

She doubted Sebastian would chase after her himself, not while wearing only a towel, but she knew he had people. Plenty of people.

“Sir, please drive faster,” she pleaded. “I need to get to my father.”

The driver sped up, and Arabella finally allowed herself to breathe.

As the city lights blurred past the window, her thoughts spiraled back to how she had ended up in this mess. Her mind drifted to the encounter two days ago, the moment that had changed everything.

She had been sitting in the hospital lobby, crying, when a stranger approached her.

A man, older, and refined, took a seat beside her and silently handed her a handkerchief.

“Life can be cruel sometimes,” he said, his voice calm and knowing. “But there are those who choose to turn their lives around. To make it better.”

Arabella sniffled, glancing at him warily.

He smiled, but there was something unreadable in his eyes. Then, in a tone that was both casual and deliberate, he added, “How about becoming one of those fortunate women?”

Arabella inhaled sharply, shaking herself from the memory.

Snapping back to reality, Arabella stared out the window, her expression crumpling. “Dad is going to kill me when he finds out what I just did to save him.”

She pouted, muttering under her breath, “That old man told me I’d be sabotaging a marriage that wasn’t meant to be… that I’d be doing everyone a favor…”

But as the city lights flickered past, a sinking feeling settled in her gut. This wasn’t how things were supposed to go. Instead of turning her life around for the better, it felt like she had just stepped into the eye of a storm, one she might not escape from...